House of Hades
by muhahaha123
Summary: My version of the house of hades. Plz review
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Falling in Tartarus was probably not the best choice Percy would make in his life. Just a nice thrilling ride! Percy thought, before he decided to jump in.

Percy hated Juno. Sure, she was on our side, giving her plan to defeat Gaia and all. But why take away Six months of Percy's life, when the Titan war had just ended? Give Percy a break.

He'd been born to live with Mr Smelly Ugliano for his entire childhood, only to discover that he was pursued by monsters day and night, his best friend was a goat, and he was going to spend his next five years fighting a losing battle for a bunch of immortals who had almost voted for his death. Percy thought he could spend a little time with Annabeth after the war, but Juno had a better idea. She made Percy go missing for six months, and more fighting to his death, including an extra free trip to Tartarus.

But that just made Percy's urge to protect Annabeth even more, to make sure they weren't seperated, no matter how Juno tried to interfere with his already rotten demigod life. Percy had only one task in his mind when he jumped into the pit: to save Annabeth, and he hadn't thought of the consequences of not just any fall, but a fall straight to living hell. _A one way trip. A very hard fall._ The voice echoed in his mind, but Percy made his decision, and he wasn't going to change it._  
_

It was not cool in Tartarus. Imagine falling in a black hole, a black hole that sucks you in as you get close to it. This was what Nico told him, and what he was experiencing right now. Unfortunately, Nico hadnt told him this: The pull from Tartarus was so big, so strong that Percy felt that someone was trying to tug his heart right out of his body.

Every molecule was aching to pull it self free from his body by the sheer gravity of the pit as he fell through the endless tunnel of darkness, confusion and misery. He vaguely sensed Annabeth clutching his hand tightly, or Gaia's laughing voice that echoed from the bottom of the pit.

Percy and Annabeth richocheted off walls as they fell, bouncing around like confused hamsters in an enclosed cage. Percy didn't even feel the pain as he slammed from wall to wall. His fingers were numb, and his head was spinning all over the place, blood rushing from his head to his feet. If he was to die, he would die holding hands with Annabeth, in the bottom of a bottomless pit, die doing an impossible mission for the gods, as Gaia destroys everything mankind established over millennia.

The tiny streaks of light illuminating the top of the tunnel had finally disappeared, replaced by tons of debris and concrete falling through the void. Percy heard a distant explosion somewhere from the top, and Percy knew the slightest possible hope of Frank or Jason flying down to the rescue was impossible. He was doomed to fail here.

Percy thought he experienced pain, but that was nothing compared to the fall. Out of the corner of his eyes, Percy spotted a faint, bronze glow from the bottom. Not very bright and flashy, but it was a sign that they were going to hit the bottom. Percy pulled Annabeth towards her, and even though she remained silent, she squeezed his hand. Percy locked Annabeth in a tight embrace, determined that nothing seperate them again. They both knew this wasn't going to go well, but they were glad at the fact that they had each other. Percy shut his eyes forcefully as they hit the ground. Even though Percy landed on what seemed like soft, mushy hay, the impact was so strong that he felt his body was on fire. Percy blacked out immediately.

Percy should have died. Percy predicted that the main reason Tartarus kept him alive was not exactly awesome. More torturing for demigods! Muhahaha! When Percy came to his senses, he found his hands had been tied behind his back by tight shackles. Percy tried to get up, but he realized that his legs had been bound tightly as well. He was kneeling on the ground, facing a bunch of masked, not-very-friendly-looking people. Percy took a look at his surroundings. It was nothing but an endless, dull court. Miniature torches were hung like an old-fashioned mansion, its dim light reflecting of solid celestrial bronze walls. The room was so wide, it seemed more like an endless court, except that it didn't have an exit. And Annabeth was not beside him.

"Where's Annabeth?" He asked quickly.

"The other one?" The masked man in the middle replied, "She was took for questioning in another room. And I have a few questions for you too, young man, before we decide to lock you up in a prison and boil you in oil for eternity."

The masked man clapped his hands, and his men raised their weapons, pointing all of them at Percy. "You better speak the truth. My men are quite willing to use their weapons against the old enemies."

Percy gulped. All of the guards surrounded him in a tight circle. One of the men snapped his fingers, and iron bars sprouted from the ground, preventing Percy from escaping. Percy had seen this cage in his dreams. It was exactly the same one Porphyrion used to imprison Hera.

He looked nervously at the nearest guard to him, who seemed to have notched what looked like an explosive arrow, aimed at his head. "All right," he decided. "Why is security so tight?" Percy asked, looking at the clusters of Greek fire strapped on the cage bars.

"This is not an ordinary prison, foolish boy. There is a reason this hell is the worst prison in the world, the worst hell on Earth, the maximum security prison of Hades. Old Titans and the most fearsome monsters are chained here for aeons, so thirsty to escape, to trace a route back to the mortal world. But no one succeeds escaping Tartarus. No one."

"Since I'm not going to escape anyway, do you mind questioning me without using the explosives?" Percy asked hopefully.

"Enough silly questions!" The man snarled as he pounded his fist on his table. "So. Standard procedure. Who are you." The man said cautiously, narrowing his eyes.

"Percy Jackson." Percy said immediately. "I'm from camp half-blood."

The guard beside the leader took out a notebook and starting scribbling furiously. "So..." The masked man continued. "Did Zeus banish you here, or you were punished for a crime?"

"I didn't. Me and Annabeth were pulled in by Arachne. We were following the Mark of Athena." Percy mumbled, not daring to look up. It was too sad, too painful to think about the quest. Annabeth did it, all by herself with a broken ankle. Percy couldn't have been prouder. They failed the quest, when they thought Annabeth succeeded, all because they had simply forgotten to cut the string, that led Annabeth all the way into Tartarus.

The man sighed. "Death is back, but the doors are opened. We no longer take control of the old enemies of the gods. We are nothing, compared to Gaia. But we will still try our best, to imprison the titans and monsters."

The man looked up at the ceiling. He called to his men. "Gaia's people are coming to free our prisoners. We must stop them before they free Tampe! She is one of the most heavily guarded ones." Percy shuddered. He had his own battle against the dragon woman a fwe years ago, and it definitely didn't go well.

One of the guards shook his head. "Gaia is too strong, sir. Even the best cannot stop them. We must flee, or they will overrun our base."

"No!" The leader roared. "It is our duty to prevent the old enemies from escaping. We shall fight! Even if we are defeated, we will fight to the last man. Then, if we die, we shall die honorably, instead of fleeing like a coward!"

The man turned around and faced Percy. "We cannot trust you yet..." He said grudgingly, "but we have no choice. If you truly are one of us, fight with us." He untied Percy, and offered him a bow.

"Uh, no thanks." Percy said. "Bows are disastrous for me. I would rather stick with my own weapon." He uncapped Riptide, as it sprang into full form.

"Anaklusmos... That is a legendary weapon. Do you know the history of your blade? This was the blade once used by Heracles." The man said, examining the sword. "I never liked him, though." He added.

Percy nodded. "Me neither. Zoë Nightshade made this. Come on," he grinned, raising his sword, as he heard roars of monsters and stomping of soldiers, "Just another battle with Percy Jackson."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Nico looked out of the window of his room. He leaned on his stygian iron sword like a walking stick, imagining the horrors Percy and Annabeth would probably be facing now. Gone. Erased from the face of the earth. Even though their faces slowly fade from our memory, their achievements and honors are still engraved in our minds, in the stories of legends of camp half-blood.

Percy Jackson was a legend. He succeeded every task the gods gave him, no matter how impossible it seemed to be, no matter how unfair the gods treated him. Nico remembered the time he met Percy, after Bianca died. Nico was so enraged about his sisters death, that he convinced himself to put the blame on Percy himself. Nico expected Percy to hate him, but Percy still saved Nico's life from Geryon, the triple chested businessman.

He still treated Nico as a friend. There aren't a lot of people Nico knew who would do that. If any of his friends fell in Tartarus, why, Nico himself, or even Jason wouldn't have the courage to jump in. _This_ is why Percy was the greatest hero of this century. When it came to fighting for the good and his friends, he put in all his effort, his heart, his courage. The gods say this was his fatal flaw? No, Nico knew that this only made him greater and more powerful.

Nico peered at his necklace from camp half-blood. There, the last bead, showed the most important event of all: A painted image of the empire state building, with tiny names of those who fell in battle inscribed in Ancient Greek. It represented the terrible outcome of the ultimate battle, those who died fighting Kronos, only to serve one purpose: to make the world a better place.

Nico told them Percy and Annabeth wouldn't die. Yet. And it was true. Percy _was _the most powerful demigod Nico had ever met. It was the unavoidable fate. They were destined to fall into Tartarus, so Hera's plan could be fulfilled. This was necessary for the doors of death to be closed, for peace to be restored to the mortal world. Bacchus knew this all along.

Nico just hoped that it would be someone else to fall in, someone who could get back to the mortal world after the mission had been accomplished. Percy and Annabeth... They were just too valuable to lose.

Nico sighed heavily as the dinner bell rang. He got up, yawning, before trudging slowly to the dining hall. Everyone gathered around, but no one was in the mood to talk after what happened to Percy and Annabeth. Everone ate their food in silence for the first few minutes. The news was too much to all of them, and everyone, except maybe Piper and Hazel, had a reason to blame themselves.

Jason's face was red with shame. "I can't believe it." Jason pounded his fist on the table. "I should have just flown down and pull them out. It was such an easy task, and I... I failed them."

Nobody said a word. Nico looked around, and he saw all the anger, the guilt, the sorrow once hidden behind a calm and cheerful mask, now revealed by the loss of the two that held the seven together like glue. Once, hero and heroine of Olympus, bearer of the sky, the mortal who held his ground and stood up the Titan King when even the gods had failed to. Now, no more than a mere shadow, a memory lost of the depths of Tartarus, conquered by the endless void.

Nico was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice that Piper was speaking to him. "Percy and Annabeth. They aren't dead yet. Right, Nico?" Piper asked, glaring at him. She was clearly trying to boost everyone's morale, but she was in tears too. Nico knew everyone was upset by the loss of Percy and Annabeth, but if they needed to win this war, they needed to move on.

"Um. Yeah. Of course." Nico said quickly. "After what they've been through... Tartarus is just another adventure. Percy is strong. He has the spirit to survive. He _is_ the most powerful demigod I have ever met. And trust me, I've been to a lot of places."

Jason grunted. He clearly didn't approve of Nico's comment, being Roman and all. It came naturally for him. Nico didn't like Jason a lot, mainly because... he was just too Roman. He held his head high in battle, fighting to gain power and authority, whilst the unworthy Romans were left out to die. If you were a roman soldier, weakness wasn't an option.

Percy, on the other hand, fought on the behalf on his own friends, to strike down the evil and risk his life for the good. He clearly saw the Jason didn't trust him, and even though Jason made no attempt to retaliate, everyone could see that a silent war was brewing between those two, and it was_ not _going to end prettily.

"So, Ladies and gentlemen." Leo spread his arms, breaking the awkward silence. "Our next move... should be straight to camp half-blood. A bloody war has started between the Romans and Greeks, and we have to stop it before they tear each other apart. It's our only chance - our only chance to stand up against the might of Gaia."

Piper nodded. She looked around the table. "Annabeth said it could restore peace to both sides. A thousand year old grudge. She believes that it can be fixed, by the most famous statue in Greece - The Athena Parthenos. The Giants bane."

"But how would it work?" Hazel asked, looking at the giant statue, as if wondering if it would start moving. The statue remained stationary, it's face emotionless, covered entirely in a layer of pure gold. Even though not moving, the statue radiated an aura of power and beauty, wealth and authority that made Hazel's eyes sting as she stared at the statue.

"I don't know." Piper admitted. "But it's definitely going to cease the war. It's the giant's bane. It will help us, one way or another. It's going to show itself when we reach the war. To somehow convince the Romans to stop fighting, even with Octavian leading the battle, urging the Romans, making them thirsty for blood and war."

"That's Juno's plan," said Frank cautiously. "To unite the Greeks and Romans was her first step towards her master plan. The question is, should we trust Juno? She has been... quite unhelpful to some of us."

"We have to." Jason said simply. "We have no other choice. Juno is one of the few gods who supporting us - believing in the idea of Gods and demigods working together. The other Olympians think they can beat the Giants without heroes."

"We _can_ do this. The Archimedes sphere is ready to be installed. Our holy warship will be twice as tough as it was. And," Leo added, managing a sly smile, "We got a whole new inventory of weapons To use. Coach would love this. Not just any weapons, but ones designed by Archimedes himself."

Piper frowned. "Where is Hedge right now?"

Jason laughed. "Probably eating his furniture in his ro-"

"Aaaaaargh! " From somewhere Jason's sentence was cut short by a mangled scream that sounded vaguely familiar. Hazel's eyes flashed dangerously. "Coach is in trouble." She got up and ran towards the source of the sound, but an explosion knocked all of them flat on the ground.

Alarms flashed in blurs of red and blue, as sirens sounded the intruder alert. The heat of the explosion caused Nico's hair to stand on his end, sounding as if a nuclear blast went off. "The hull's on fire! We have to-"

Leo's voice was drowned by another blast. Jason could feel intense radiation and heat travelling into him - the blinding flash of light, a moment where the heat rush into his senses. "Everyone take cover!" Jason bellowed, as the dining table flew off course and smashed into the chandelier. Fragments of broken glass sailed through the air, and everyone immediately ducked behind tables and chairs. "What was that?" Frank cried.

They all saw it. Right next to the Argo || was anorther flying warship. Even though smaller in comparison, it was clearly designed more as a battleship. Covered in layers of armoured iron plates, armed with mounted crossbows and deadly cannons, this ship was quick and deadly. Spikes sprouted suddenly from the side of the warship, and Jason knew immediately what was coming next.

The ship swerved slightly, and rammed into the Argo || with such force that the the entire room lurched sideways. Nico lost balance and tumbled towards the edge, but Hazel caught him firmly. Nico would have toppled over. "I am not losing you again." She said forcefully, pulling Nico up with one hand.

"Thanks." Nico muttered, brushing ashes off his shoulder and steadying himself. But the worst wasn't over. The Argo || returned fire, launching a volley of ballista bolts strong enough to blast through walls, but the greek fire didn't seem to pierce through its thick, iron walls. The iron plates starting smoking from the direct contact with greek fire, but it was nothing compared to the wreckage of the Argo ||. The ship swerved in close, positioning itself side by side, right next to the Argo ||.

"Leo, open fire again! They're coming on board!" Jason ordered. He knew what the enemy was planning, and it was only a matter of time before a fight would break out on the ship. And with Hedge in trouble and half of them out of shape, they were ridiculously outnumbered. "No!" Nico said sternly. "We'll blow up our own ships.

Nico watched helplessly, as grappling hooks flew from the enemy warship and attached themselves to the side of the Argo ||, their metal claws springing into full form as dozens of them stuck firmly onto the ship. The emergency exit opened, and hundreds of Cyclops swung across the ropes with ease. Hundreds of fully armed Cyclopes attacking with a warship - this mere sight was, no doubt, a demigods nightmare.

"Leo, secure the ship!" Jason cried. The hull was already seriously damaged, and our warship wouldn't last another two hits. The Argo || was a first class war machine, but even the best can fall under heavy damage. Jason was a Roman, and Romans were successful because they never made the same mistake twice. The unsinkable Titanic sunk, and so could the Argo ||.

"Need some protection here! "Leo called as he raced towards the engine room. The ship vibrated violently as cannons blasted the hull to shreds. Leo's ship was going down if attacked again.

His mind worked furiously: desperately trying to grasp the slightest idea of saving the ship and his friends. The Archimedes sphere. Leo got a lot of inspiration from Archimedes' leftover work, and Leo built a lot of them since they left. But there was one invention Leo always fancied: A massive crane strong enough to pluck enemy ships out of the water, and hurl them miles away from the invasion. This was one of Archimedes' most famous inventions. He built it the first thing after they left, but it had to be installed into his ship first. Leo set to work.

The Cyclopes gave a loud cheer, and charged towards the group of demigods. Coach Hedge was dragged unconscious by a couple of Cyclopes as the door burst open, and threw against the wall, an arrow sticking out of his goat legs. It was both sad and furious to see the old goat like this: Hedge had risked his own life for him, even though he wasn't the best teacher at the wilderness school.

Nico instinctively formed a circle with the others, covering each other back to back, slashing their swords in front of the oncoming hordes of Cyclopes. He managed to ward most of them off, and even kill a few of them, but they were surrounded like in siege.

"Back off! BACK OFF!" Piper growled, waving her dagger around frantically, but the Cyclopes didn't seem to listen to her. One of them laughed. "We Cyclopes are strong! We not listen to charmspeak, no, we don't!" Jason was having a hard time too. Despite his endless efforts to summon the winds and blow a few Cyclopes off the ropes, what they were facing was twice as tall and ten times more intimidating. Without Coach Hedge and Leo, they were hopelessly outnumbered against an army of giants.

Leo. Jason cursed himself under his breath. "Frank?" He asked shakily. "Leo's still in the engine room." Frank nodded silently. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and began to change. His body flattened as he stretched long and wide, his skin turning into an ugly shade of dark, scaly green. Jason watched in fascination, as Frank's nose elongated into a cunning, long jaw with teeth as sharp as razors. A powerful, wide tail sprouted from the base of Frank's buttock. Frank had turned into one of the most fearsome predators - A crocodile.

"Seriously?" Leo asked, as Frank the Croc waded through enemies and positioned himself between the doors of the engine room. A Cyclops peeked in from the outside, but its eyes widened at the sight of an eight foot long crocodile lying on the bare floor. Frank pounced forward, snapping his powerful jaw against the Cyclops' waist, and he broke into dust.

"You look strange as a croc," Leo said. "You snout is a bit misshapen." Leo looked, puzzled at the somehow bent shape that Frank turned into. Frank scowled. "Yeah. I haven't seen a real croc before."

His comrades rushed forwards to attack Leo, but Frank felt on fire. Frank realized that a croc was the best animal as a guard - cunning and stationary, but deadly when attacking. Frank rammed into a horde of Cyclops, and flattened them against the wall. Two other Cyclops charged towards Frank, but a flick of his mighty tail sent them flying. The other problem was that Frank couldn't see sideways, so it was rather annoying when he was clubbed from the back.

The Cyclopes surrounded Nico and his friends in a tight circle, preventing their escape. Hazel lost her spatha, and Jason's knee was bleeding from a nasty cut, when a Cyclops threw a chair at him.

"Surrender now, or you all will die. Mother Earth will not allow you to stop the war," said the leader. He was the biggest and the ugliest, with crumpled, scaly skin and a horrible breath.

"Can't we eat them?" One of the Cyclops asked hopefully. He scanned each of Jason, Piper, Nico and Hazel, as if wondering who would be best as starters.

"No," the leader said, but he sounded disappointed. "Earth woman said... she said she needed all of them. We cannot kill them." He drooped his head sadly. "But no matter." He brightened up, smiling with those crooked and broken teeth, "My people are hungry. Dirt woman wouldn't mind if a few demigods went missing."

"Fat chance." Hazel said. "You're not stopping us." Frank charged into the room, knocking a dozen of Cyclopes flat, but went down quickly under a pile of Cyclopes.

Hazel gritted her teeth. Leo... Come on... she thought furiously. And a new voice boomed through the hallway. "Yo, Cyclopes, I brought you a surprise!" He laughed crazily, and there was the unmistakable sound of a button being pressed. Out of nowhere swung a massive Crane - the Archimedes Claw.

With the size of a double-deckered bus, the claw swiped through the air with incredible speed and smashed into the leader. The strike was so powerful he shot across wreckage and exploded into dust as it made contact with its own ship.

Leo caused just the distraction that Nico needed. Nico snapped his fingers, and the ceiling broke into pieces. Heavy slabs of concrete landed of the remaining Cyclopes, and they went down under the piles of rubble. But this wasn't the end. More Cyclopes - reinforcements slided across the hooks, and made their way towards the Argo ||.

Leo put a stop to it. He pulled a lever, and the claw whirred into action. "I've always wanted to use this machine," he said happily, bouncing up and down like a little kid, watching as the claw changed, it's tiny materials rearranging itself to form the shape of a human fist.

"It can change shape upon will. Cool, eh?" He explained, looking at Jason's confused face. He imitated a punch, and the Archimedes claw responded - extending hundreds of meters and smashing through the ship's solid iron walls with thousands of tons of pure force, and the ship broke into two, spiralling out of control as both halves crashed into the ground. Jason watched, half-amused, half amazed as their holy warship exploded into shower of red and orange sparks, before being engulfed by a towering inferno that completely swallowed the ship.

Leo sighed, spectating the outcome of the disaster. Leo's ship could recover slowly, but the damage was done. The hull was completely demolished by enemy firepower, and the huge mast that hung in the middle of the ship was snapped in half. Almost every part of Leo's ship was damaged, except for one thing -

"The Athena Parthenos," Jason finished his thoughts for him. "Not a scratch. Not a single scratch.


End file.
